Drug production shortage could affect more than two-thirds of Windsor hospital patients

Hospitals in Windsor are concerned their patients will suffer if they run out of stock of injectable pain relievers and post-operative drugs following a production shortage at a Quebec drug manufacturing plant.

“We’re barely making it through the week,” said Sharon Pillon, vice president of continuing care at Windsor Regional Hospital. “Now we’re lucky if we have enough to make it to the next allocation,” Pillon said, referring to the weekly delivery. These days, the hospital receives about half of what it ordinarily would order, she said, meaning it cannot keep its usual two-week supply in stock.

In early February, Sandoz, a major generic drug company in Boucherville, Que., was forced to suspend production of many products and upgrade its facilities after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection found deficiencies relating to the safety and reliability of its production methods.

The company is a major supplier of several hundred medicines including injectable pain medication such as morpheine and antibiotics. According to a memo sent to Windsor Regional Hospital, more than 140 medications would be affected by the slow-down. Hospitals across the country face the shortage and provincial health ministries as well as Health Canada have stepped in to make sure it does not grow worse. Pillon said no patients at Windsor Regional have been affected yet.

Windsor Regional relies on Sandoz for at least a dozen drugs used primarily for end-of-life care, post-operation pain management and for surgical patients, Pillon said. There is also a cardiac medication and some injectable antibiotics.

About 70 per cent of Windsor Regional’s patients – especially those on the acute-care side – rely on these injectable medications, Pillon said. “They’re very important drugs,” she said.

Pillon said that the hospital has tried sourcing the medications from other companies, but for about 80 per cent of these drugs, Sandoz is the only supplier in Canada.

“It puts us a little bit at risk,” she said, adding that she hopes this is an “eye-opener” for Health Canada to look at ways to reduce the risk of drug shortages when manufacturers run into problems.

“We’re all scrambling,” Pillon said.

In a statement on Monday, the Ontario Hospital Association’s president Mark Rochon said Health Canada “is in a position” to help hospitals access more supplies from other manufacturers both in Canada and abroad by fast-tracking approvals and by keeping an inspection team on stand-by to inspect domestic production facilities, if necessary.

In the meantime, Windsor Regional, Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, Leamington District Memorial Hospital and Chatham Hospital are working together to share their stock, Pillon said.

Steve Erwin, spokesman for Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, said that so far, things are looking “pretty good” but that the staff are monitoring the stock levels very closely. Erwin echoed Pillon’s point about the risk of relying on a single manufacturer. “So many hospitals rely on the same plant for supplies,” he said. “The longer this goes, the more risk there is.”

In a statement on Feb. 29, Sandoz Canada said it continues its efforts to “maintain reliable supply of essential medicines following a temporary slow-down in production.”

“The company is focusing its efforts on essential medicines and prioritizing resources to ensure normal supply is restored as quickly as possible,” the statement continued. The production of non-essential drugs has been temporarily halted and Sandoz has started publishing a weekly summary of anticipated delays.

A fire in the Sandoz plant on Sunday also has Pillon worried production will not pick up quickly enough.

In a statement on Monday, Sandoz confirmed there was a fire inthe boiler room of one section of the Boucherville plant but that it is “too early to evaluate any potential damage.”

Requests for comment from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care as well as from Health Canada were not returned on Monday night.

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